Haunted House College AU

[worthallthis]

While the army is covering tuition, it doesn't cover living expenses, and temporary work on-campus is better than temporary work off-campus. So when the drama department managed to raise funds for a haunted house in one of the frat houses, James put on his best "I can kill you with my pinky" look, a shabby suit (shabby is really all he has, so, lucky), and his growing out hair loose around his face and "interviewed" for a spot as in-character for a creepy fucky as possible.

He had to refuse the first offer to be one of the ghosts inside. Dropping the character and donning a slightly sheepish smile, "Really not that keen on jumping out an' scaring people. Especially the ones that get punchy when they're scared." When the interviewer looked at his resume, saw his army tour (the whole "captured and tortured" thing isn't on there, but it doesn't have to be), she just nodded and stuck him at introductions and taking tickets. The pay isn't great, but it'll cover meals for a while.

So he shows up for opening night, gets his face done all pale with stage-make up and his suit a little spruced up with a very fancy shirt underneath from the costume department, and takes in the faces of the other people who'd been brought on.

Comments

[worthallthis]

Which finally brings him around to realizing with some surprise: "You stayin' put over the holiday? Not going anywhere?"

[shadowsran]

Raising a hand to her neck, she laughs. "Yeah! I'm here year-round, part of why I sprung for apartment instead of dorms. No family stuff going on, you know? Time's better spent poking around here."

[worthallthis]

Well, hell. He nods a little. "Makes sense. I had other reasons for getting an apartment instead of the dorms." Obviously, given everything. The hand, the PTSD, the weird-ass metabolism, the impatience with normal college kid behavior.... "But that's kind of a. Side-reason, I guess. I don't got anywhere to go, either."

[shadowsran]

For a moment she considers him, wordless and smiling, before extending a fond little elbow to his bicep. "Makes sense." To want his own space, all things considered. "Plenty excuse to trade a lot of whatever we're making around Christmas then, right? Maybe when break starts you'll let me show you around a couple hole in the wall places. Lots of cool stuff to see."

[worthallthis]

The elbow gets her a nudge back with his own. "Won't say no to a tour guide. I only really know the neighborhood around my apartment and the campus." And the streets between his apartment and the grocery store, which annoyingly is not the grocery store closest to his apartment. Which is probably why Misty hasn't seen him at work yet.

The company won't go amiss, either. Jesus, maybe he's finally actually made a friend, and it took her seeing him freak out over a practical joke.

[shadowsran]

"Yeah? That opens up a lot, you're missing out on some neat little places. Gonna need to chip at your off-hours overwinter, hit the town one locale at a time. You've been down to the lake at least, right?"

Quite a nice thought, that. Bit surreal, friends.

[worthallthis]

"There's a lake?" he blinks at her. Clearly, no, he has not been to the lake.

[shadowsran]

That gets her - she all but guffaws, arm curling around her abdomen as if to restrain it. Nothing's teasing about the grin she's flashing him, though it's widened considerably. "Yeah, there's a lake. Opposite side of campus from what I'm guessing our route home is plus a block and a little side dirt road. Nothing huge, but more than enough for swimming and it'll hold skaters in winter."

[worthallthis]

That gets his attention. Skating! His eyes just about light up, actually. "I ain't been ice skating in years. We are so doing that."

[shadowsran]

Aww. Mirroring his enthusiasm, Misty beams right back. "Yeah? I only got into it last year, so hopefully you're just rusty enough we'll be on equal footing to start. I expect tips, otherwise."

[worthallthis]

"I'll make sure you don't fall on your ass, promise," he says loftily. Then he finishes off his beer. "I'm reaching the end of my dealing-with-crowded-spaces limit." And he'd rather his arm not start buzzing in the middle of a bunch of theater kids. "You ready to head out? Or should I say goodnight for today and leave you to the party?"

[shadowsran]

Pleased as she is at the implication a shared walk home was in some part assumed, she calls the end of the outing immediately and without regret. "I'm ready, yeah." Nothing but a plate and can to throw out in passing.

"And I hope you know you're liable for my falling, in that case."

[worthallthis]

It's been the norm for two days now, might as well make it a third. "You don't fall unless you do something stupid," he says lightly enough, dropping his beer bottle into the recycling and heading for the door. "Like getting too far ahead of me or something."

[shadowsran]

"Only gonna be good if I'm nearby, then?" She follows with a laugh, hands slipping into her pockets. "Does teaching involve just a lot of puppeting me?"

[worthallthis]

"Not necessarily, I just can't guarantee you don't fall down if I'm not there to catch you," he points out with half a smile, waving at a couple of the other guys before stepping outside into the cool and much quieter air with a clear sense of relief. He's got to pick up his paycheck tomorrow, but for now, he's free of intense social activities for a while. Walking Misty home clearly doesn't count.

[shadowsran]

"Mm, Ill call it fair for now." Mock dubiousness aside, it's a fun sounding prospect and she's glad it got any rise out of him. "I hope I'm past falling down territory, but there's a small window to practice and then a lot of the year left to get rusty again, so maybe you'll be necessary."

[worthallthis]

"Everyone's got the chance to fall down. Even me." At the idea of falling down, himself, though, he's suddenly worried, though. "How thick is the ice, out there, anyway? Does it get pretty solid?" He's... he's actually really heavy now, Jesus, he didn't even think about that.

[shadowsran]

"Ain't measured, but I think someone from town measures it? We can check it out once it freezes over, won't be long now. Few months." Why he'd worry takes a moment to click, and even then only fuzzily. "Not good for the arm-?"

[worthallthis]

"Just the arm is really heavy. And kind of anchored with metal all along my ribs and spine. Gonna have to test it pretty thoroughly before I actually skate. I don't wanna break that shit and ruin everybody's fun," he admits, more sheepish-sounding than actually worried. He's sure even if he went under, he could just punch his way back up, and the cold water--

--well, he's pretty sure he'd deal okay with the cold. Pretty sure.

[shadowsran]

There's a wince at that, small if not subtle. It sounds painful. The sheepishness only makes it worse, too kind to be in that position to begin with.

"Well we'll test it, then. I'm sure there's people that try to ice fish, maybe some bored hobbyist type around with records online. Or we wait until winter and you have at it yourself, either way. Worst case scenario I'm gonna find you a rink, you really lit up."

[worthallthis]

Yeah, it kinda is painful. But he deals with it. Sure does contribute to all the eating, though, he's discovered. The more he uses the arm, the more it hurts, the hungrier he gets.

"Good memories, I guess," he says, maybe a little wistfully. "There was an open-air rink back in New York that set up every winter, and we went whenever we could afford it."

[shadowsran]

Aw. There's a telltale incline in her eyebrows, her smile twitching wider a moment. That's a sweet thought.

"Never been near enough a rink, but they must be nice. Outdoors is probably better though, I'd bet-- hear the animals, get a good winter sky overhead, it's magic."

[worthallthis]

"Is it pretty empty down there then? Not a ton of people?" Bodes well for not cracking the ice and drowning half the skaters, if so. Maybe slightly less well for the ice being thick enough to skate on, though.

[shadowsran]

"Depends when you're there, you're obviously gonna get a lot of people during the day and less at night, but I'd say night's better. Colder, but better odds of getting it alone, quieter, stars-- it's nice."

[worthallthis]

Also fewer people to accidentally get plunged into freezing water should he break the ice, but fewer people to call for help too. Hmm. He'll have to think on it. "So I take it you've gone at night, before."